Auto Insurance Claims/Auto vs. Bike

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Expert: - 7/26/2010


Question

What Happened
Essentially, I was hit by a vehicle taking a left turn at an intersection. It was an unprotected left turn, so there was no green arrow for the left turn. I exited the sidewalk (walking) and began to ride on my bicycle in the crosswalk to enter the ongoing traffic (which I later found was a mistake, legally) . Anyway, I was struck and have been having ongoing therapy and doctor appts for mainly my back and shoulder that was injured in the accident. None of the doctors are too sure of what exactly is causing the pain in my shoulders and back beside nerve and deep tissue damage. After about a year, I received a final settlement offer from my lawyer for $25 K (without taking out all the attorney and insurance fees). I am not sure if this is a good settlement amount. I have been told my injuries would heal, but might take years. What do you think about the settlement offer? Of course its better than nothing, but I am not sure if it is worth rejecting or accepting. Also, the driver has a single limit policy, which I am not sure what that means. If you could help, I would appreciate it.

Answer
Hi Shatheep,

I can not state the value of your claim without knowing all of the details as well as the total cost of your treatment. Generally, a settlement for soft tissue injuries will be 2 to 3 times the total of the medical bills.

A single limit policy simply means that there is a single limit for both bodily injury and property damage. Most people are familiar with a split limit policy which would be represented for example as 100/300/50. This means there would be $100,000 of coverage available for bodily injury for any one person or a total of $300,000 for tan entire accident and $50,000 for property damage. A single limit policy may be shown to have $250,000 of coverage for both bodily injury and property damage combined.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh

Richard Hixenbaugh

Expertise

Auto insurance claims procedure, auto coverage, liability issues, auto damage questions, how to deal with the insurance company, loss of use and diminished value.

Experience

I have been involved in the insurance industry for over 25 years. I have experience in underwriting, sales, claims adjusting, auto damage estimating, auto value appraising and diminished value appraising. I have testified as an expert witness over 35 times.

Organizations
Society of Certified Auto Appraisers

Education/Credentials
Completed all required courses for the Florida Property-Casualty agents license and the Florida claims adjusters license. I have attended various courses on auto damage estmating, vehicle appraising and am ASE certified in collision damage analysis.

Past/Present Clients
My company has done work for consumers nationwide.

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